Texas Church Shooter Previously Charged With Animal Cruelty; Worked As Security Guard

SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, TX (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — The Associated Press reports the man suspected of killing 26 people and injuring about 20 more at a Texas church had previously been charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty in east-central Colorado.

Court records in El Paso County indicate Devin Patrick Kelley was cited on Aug. 1, 2014, when he lived in a mobile home park near Colorado Springs. He was given a deferred probationary sentence and was ordered to pay $368 in restitution. The charge was dismissed in March 2016 after Kelley completed his sentence.

The AP also said the Denver Post reported that court records indicate “someone” was granted a protection order against Kelley on Jan. 15, 2015, also in El Paso County.

The AP is also reporting that a manager at a Texas vacation resort said the gunman worked for the resort as security guard.

Claudia Varjabedian is a manager at the Summit Vacation Resort in New Braunfels. She said on Monday that Devin Patrick Kelley had been working there the past month and a half.

She says Kelley “seemed like a nice guy” and didn’t give her any problems. She said he worked unarmed on his shift as the day security guard.

The riverside resort in the Texas Hill Country is near Kelley’s apparent home off a rural highway. Sheriff’s deputies were still blocking the gate to his property Monday morning.

Kelley served in the Air Force from 2010 to 2014. He received a bad conduct discharge after he was court-martialed for assault on his wife and child. Kelley was confined by the military for 12 months. He had been living in nearby New Braunfels, where his neighbors were shocked to hear that he was the shooter.

Authorities stated Kelley was dressed in black tactical gear as he walked up to the church and started firing an AR-15. Kelley first shot from outside of the building, and then walked into the church to continue his attack.